After our first child was born, we moved to Eden Prairie, Minnesota. One of the reasons we picked that location for our house was the pond that bordered our property in the back. The pond was about one and a half acres. We liked being on the water in the summer, and it made a great skating rink in the winter. The pond was about 12 feet deep, didn’t have a beach, and wasn’t something you swam in. We let the shoreline brush grow and stay thick, to keep our young children away from the water.
I noticed about the 6th year we lived there, that a green slime started showing up around the edges near the end of August.
The 7th year of living there, we started a family prayer list. It had three columns. A small column for “Date Asked”, next, a large column for “Prayer Description”, and a small third column for “Date Answered”. It was simple and anyone could write a reasonable prayer request on it. Folks, if you want to prove that God answers prayer, start one of these running lists for your family.
Each year following, the swamp green got thicker, and by the 10th year, the ice was melted by the end of April, and the pond was completely covered with green by the end of May. And it stayed that way through the rest of the summer. And now we had a mosquito garden, no open water in the summer, and I was wishing that I didn’t live next to a swamp.
The following March is when Minnesota usually begins thawing out. Remembering the previous year’s swampy summer, I began grumbling about the pond, and how I missed the clear water summers. Then my middle daughter popped up and said, “I know what we can do, we can put that on our prayer list! We can pray that God would keep it clear all this coming summer!”
I said, “Uh, Krista, I don’t think we should do that. The last couple years it seemed like it was green as soon as the ice melted – this has been coming on for the last five years!” “But dad, you said we could put any reasonable request on the list (It’s tough when your kids quote things to you that you said)”. Well, okay, but Minnesota has really humid summers! I was worried about my nine year-old daughter as she wrote this request on the prayer list, “God, please keep our pond clear through the whole summer”. Three months later, at the end of June, incredibly, the pond was clear! I could hardly believe it! “Krista!” I said. “The pond is clearer now than it’s been in years! Isn’t that great? Let’s put the end of June date on our prayer list as an answered prayer – It’s been clear all of May and June!” She said, “But dad, the prayer was for the whole summer.” “Yeah, but Krista, July is always a terribly hot month, and the green always comes in July!” “But we prayed for the whole summer”, she said. I groaned. I desperately didn’t want my sweet daughter’s faith destroyed by putting an impossible request in that prayer book!
However, unbelievably, the pond stayed clear through the end of July! Then I really got going! “Krista, this is great! God did a miracle! He kept it clear through July! The summer’s over – let’s put in the Date Answered now!” “Daaaad – the prayer was for the WHOLE summer.” “Krista, haven’t you ever heard of the Dog Days of August? It means August is the hottest and most humid month of summer….. Every pond and half the lakes in Minnesota turn green!” It’s a terrible month for water in this state! But she wouldn’t budge. What was going to happen to my daughter’s faith at the end of August?
The pond stayed clear through the end of August! God had answered her prayer and He had cleared that pond for the entire summer! It wasn’t her faith God was working on. It was mine! God taught me a lesson. My weak faith was no match for her strong faith. God could take care of my children’s faith, and He certainly didn’t need my help to do it! Obviously, I had all I could do to take care of myself!
And, as I have seen God do more than once, He clarified to my daughter His appreciation of her faith. The rest of the years we lived there (7 years), that little pond never got green…. As I said, our God is good!
God’s Lesson Here.
The lesson is obvious. God is a teacher. Believe what God said in His book. He does what He says. And when He says He can do the impossible, believe it! If you think you are too old to learn, expect trouble – because the first nine words of this sentence equates to PRIDE. And ‘ol Satan is always paying attention! God took that faith of a mustard seed of this sweet little girl and did what her father thought couldn’t be done. And not only did God love answering her prayer, but gave a needed unforgettable lesson to her “doubting dad”. Glory!
Grandpa Jack's Place 